By Doug Fields, Youth Pastor and Co-Author of Getting Ready for Marriage: A Practical Road Map for Your Journey Together

Several years ago, a big-city commuter train crashed, killing several people and seriously injuring hundreds more. The train was traveling too fast in a location that required it to go slow. When investigators looked into the accident, they made three observations that should have prevented the devastation: 

1. A comparable crash had already taken place in a similar location and the lessons it offered were ignored. 
2. The warning lights that informed the conductor to slow down were working, but the driver didn’t give it the proper attention. 
3. The conductor was apparently distracted by his phone. 

Sadly, this crash didn’t have to happen. It’s really not all that different from what we experience when we see a marriage crash. Too often couples… 

1. Don’t take the time to learn from their past mistakes.
2. Ignore the warning lights that their marriage is in danger. 
3. Are distracted by “other priorities” that keep them from giving needed attention to their marriage. 

All marriages experience seasons where the relationship gets tricky. No couple is immune from times of tension and conflict. But you can learn to recognize the warning lights and make tough choices that will keep your marriage on a healthy course, headed toward your intended destination. You’ll have to choose to say “no” to important options so you can say “yes” to what’s most important. If you have no time for your marriage, you must move to crisis mode and make immediate course corrections. You can’t just make more time for your marriage. As fun as it would be, making time is impossible. All married couples, regardless of income, region, religion, upbringing, and personality, all have the same amount of time: 1,440 minutes a day. You have the amazing ability to choose how those precious and fleeting minutes are spent. It’s both a privilege and a burden. If you don’t learn how to use those minutes to breathe life into your marriage, your relationship may run off the rails. 

For you to experience a long-term marriage filled with refreshing time margins and a deep intimacy, you have to seek to understand the cause of your busyness as well as the consequences. It’s easy to simply cast blame on busyness without looking within your own heart to see why you actually might be so busy. In an attempt to help me escape busyness, I’ve identified three questions I regularly ask: 

• Is my pace of life really sustainable over a long period of time?
• Do I like the person I am becoming as a result of my pace? 
• Am I giving my wife, Cathy, and my family my best self during this season? 

When I’m busy, the answer to these questions is always no, no, and no! While I’m often tempted to move to a deserted island to escape everything, I’m fully aware that a quick-fix is not a good solution. The long-term answer always points back to me noticing the warning lights of busyness, learning from my past mistakes, and making choices that will result in a better, stronger, and healthier Doug. 

When I look back at some of my previous bouts with busyness, I can see that I wasn’t willing to make the difficult decisions to unclutter my life so that I would have more time for my primary relationships. The warning lights were working; I just didn’t give them the attention they deserved. 

Here’s one intentional choice you can make to avoid a crash: Start with giving your spouse just one percent of your day. One percent of your time each day is only fourteen minutes and forty seconds, so let’s round up and make it fifteen minutes. That’s fifteen minutes of face-to-face, knee-to-knee connection. This means turning off the television, shutting down the computer, and putting your phone away.. These few minutes, set aside every day, will make a big difference over the course of weeks, months, years, and decades. Your marriage can become rock solid if you’d slow things down, block noise out, and commit to a daily time together. Most of us pack too much into those 1,440 minutes, and it leaves us hurried, stressed, and lacking intimacy with our spouse. Let’s change that! Fifteen minutes isn’t much, and we know you can do this!

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At Mariners, we value and champion marriages. That’s why we’re committed to supporting couples in their life-long journey together. Whether you’re seriously dating, engaged, or have been married for 3 years or 33 years, you won’t want to miss Marriage Matters with Doug Fields! Join us on Aug 14 at the 5:30p Saturday Service at Mariners Irvine, and stay for an amazing evening connecting with other couples. We’ll feed you dinner, have some serious fun, and equip you with practical tools to strengthen your relationship. 

With so much happening at Mariners this fall, it’s a great time to step into serving! As we prepare for the fall and all the opportunities the Lord is bringing our way, we invite you to partner with us to inspire people, wherever they are in their faith journey, to follow Jesus and fearlessly change the world. 

Whether you’re passionate about investing in the next generation, love making people feel welcomed during weekend worship services, or have musical or creative gifts you want to share, there is a place for you to use your unique gifts, experiences, and passions to serve others—and a spot on one of our ministry teams that only you can fill. God has a specific purpose for you and wants to work through you!  As 1 Peter 4:10 says, “just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.” 

Ultimately, we serve others because Christ has served us. When we serve others, we experience God’s joy, and our faith grows as we partner with Him to advance His Kingdom on Earth. No matter what your gifting is, there is a place for you at Mariners Church. All you need is a willingness for God to use you, however He sees fit.

So, what are you waiting for? Step into serving today and begin a new rhythm of inspiring others to follow Jesus and fearlessly change the world. Join a ministry team and be a part of making this fall at Mariners the best one yet! 

Explore our serving opportunities and sign up here. 

Join us for the best week of the summer at one of five locations throughout Orange County (you heard us right, FIVE locations!) August 9-13. 

This year, we’re taking things to the next level and bringing VBS Summer Games to our Mariners Congregations in Huntington Beach, Tustin, Mission Viejo, Santa Ana, and North Irvine. Through over-the-top opening ceremonies, captivating Bible stories, crazy competitive games, and creative art projects, kids entering kindergarten through 5th grade in fall 2021 will learn about the race they were born to run! 

We have an incredible opportunity to serve and love the kids and families of Orange County, and we want you to be a part of it. VBS at five locations is only possible because of people like you teenagers, college students, parents, and others, who invest a few days of their summer to serve their cities and reach the next generation with the good news of Jesus.  

We invite you to sign up to serve at one of our locations and help make this year’s VBS unforgettable! Why? Because VBS is so much more than a fun week. It has a HUGE impact on kids, both relationally and spiritually. We believe that when you serve, God does something big in you as He does something even bigger through you. 

Register your kids and invite your friends and neighbors to join you for VBS in your city. We also invite you to consider serving the next generation this summer and giving your time to make Summer Games VBS awesome for all our kids. We can’t wait to partner with you! 

 Don’t hesitate–choose your VBS location and register today here!

https://vimeo.com/573145619

“I think my understanding of hope has changed because I think hope isn’t found in circumstance. It’s found in knowing that God is going to walk me through the fire, that He enters into it with us—and that makes it that much more reliable,” Summer said. 

On February 15, 2020, Summer woke up and realized her husband, Brian, wasn’t there. Shortly after, a coroner came to the door and informed her that Brian had passed away the night before. After years of struggling with mental illness, Brian lost his life to suicide.

“There’s absolutely nothing like facing hope being ripped away in that type of moment,” Summer said. With her family beside her, Summer called a trauma therapist, who told her to take it one day, and one step, at a time. “I knew that the next step to take was to just seek Jesus and to trust that He was going to walk us through it,” Summer said. 

She went to Mariners the next morning, and discovered a group of people waiting for her in her normal row, ready to pray with her and surround her with love. In that moment, Summer knew God was with her, and her church community was there for her. Throughout the last year, she’s experienced God’s faithfulness and found hope in Jesus. 

Now, she walks through seasons of grief with others and supports and loves them like others have loved and supported her. She is a part of a group of other widows, where she encourages and gives each hope to others facing unimaginable grief. 

“We are going to go through hard things, but God is going to stand beside us and walk with us in the midst of it,” Summer said. 

If you’re facing grief and loss like Summer, you are not alone. Remedy, our Care & Recovery Ministry, is Christ-centered recovery program for anyone experiencing challenges in life arising from hurts, habits, or hopelessness. Join us on Monday nights at 6:15p at Mariners Irvine and walk alongside others finding hope and healing in Jesus. Learn more here. 

Have you ever wondered what’s next in your faith journey? 

Maybe you’re new to Mariners or new to your faith, and have lots of questions. Or maybe you have been a part of Mariners for a long time, and are ready to get more involved by serving on a ministry team or connecting with others in community. 

No matter where you are spiritually, there’s always an opportunity for you to grow and go deeper in your faith. At Mariners, we believe that everyone has a next step in faith and we’re passionate about helping you find yours. 

If you’re looking for community, want to grow in your relationship with Jesus, and want to discover your purpose and figure out how God has wired you to fearlessly change the world, Next Step is for you. 

Next Step is a 60-minute experience that will help you find your place in the bigger story of how God is working in you! At Next Step, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about Mariners, have a live conversation with some of our pastors, and explore how you can get involved in what the Lord is doing through our church. 

Join us this weekend to discover how God wants to use you to inspire others to follow Jesus and fearlessly change the world. 

Find out more information here.  

Where do you find hope when you need it most? 

This weekend we’re launching our brand-new, summer teaching series, Hope in Hopeless Times, unpacking the book of f 1 Peter. The people of Peter’s day were a lot like us. They felt overwhelmed, and, at times, filled with despair and frustration. Peter’s first letter still speaks to us, like it did to the early church thousands of years ago, reminding us of the unwavering, unshakeable hope we have in Jesus. 

We’re not going to skip a verse in 1 Peter so don’t skip a week! Join us every weekend at one of our locations throughout Orange County, or online at marinerschurch.tv, and invite your friends and neighbors to experience this incredible series with you. 

Our amazing Mariners Creative Arts Volunteer Team has also created a beautiful series magazine filled with resources, original content, inspiring stories, and more to guide you as we explore the book of 1 Peter together.. Bring it with you to weekend worship services, and on the road with you when you’re traveling, to follow along with us week by week. Pick up a physical copy this weekend or download a digital version here. 

For more information, resources, and shareable invites, visit the Hope in Hopeless Times series page.